Copyright 1999 Federal News Service, Inc.
Federal News Service
JUNE 10, 1999, THURSDAY
SECTION: IN THE NEWS
LENGTH:
3451 words
HEADLINE: PREPARED STATEMENT BY
BOB
CHASE
PRESIDENT
NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION
BEFORE THE
HOUSE EDUCATION AND THE WORKFORCE COMMITTEE
SUBJECT - TITLE
I
BODY:
Chairman Goodling and Members of the
Committee:
On behalf of the National Education Association's (NEA) 2.4
million members, thank you for the opportunity to testify today about a critical
program helping millions of children achieve academic success--the Title I
program.
NEA members represent the full, diverse spectrum of public
education. We are elementary and secondary school teachers, paraprofessionals,
vocational educators, and postsecondary education faculty. We are deeply
committed to strengthening public education to enable all children to achieve
academic success.
NEA members believe strongly in strengthening public
education to meet the challenges of the 21st century. NEA's vision for quality
public education focuses on improving student achievement, elevating teacher
quality, and building school system capacity. NEA believes that an effective,
successful public education system' must include:
- A high quality,
certified/licensed teacher -- teaching only in his or her field of licensure --
in every classroom;
- Rigorous academic standards for all students;
-
Assessments tied to academic standards to help measure progress and replicate
success;
- Better preparation for new teachers, including mentoring and peer
assistance to stem the attrition rate, now at 20 percent of new teachers;
-
An end to social promotion, with supports and services to help children succeed;
- Small class sizes, particularly in the early grades, to improve student
achievement;
- Modern, safe school facilities for all students;
-
Comprehensive interventions for potentially troubled students and strong
classroom discipline provisions;
- Research-based, teacher-tested programs
and practices;
- Schools that are the heart of their communities --
responsive to students, parents, and other taxpayers; and
- Access for all
students to new technologies.Teachers and other educators work tirelessly at the
state and local levels to achieve these goals and to create more effective
public schools in communities throughout America. For example:
- Seven
communities in Pennsylvania are involved in Public Engagement Projects (PEP) --
a partnership with NEA to open and sustain dialogues among schools, parents, and
community members.
- In Missouri, the governor and legislature enacted the
1995 Outstanding Schools Act. Missouri NEA strongly supported provisions for
class size reductions, full-day kindergarten, and early childhood development.
Missouri NEA also helped develop new higher academic standards, voluntary
curriculum frameworks, and a statewide system of student assessment.
- The
New Jersey Education Association has established the Frederick L. Hipp
Foundation for Excellence in Education to support innovative education programs.
In its first five years, the Foundation has given nearly $300,000 to local
Associations to develop and implement programs to improve teaching and learning.
Fund recipients' projects often encourage parental involvement, connect
classrooms with advanced technology, or address issues of multiculturalism and
diversity.
- California Teachers Association (CTA) members have developed
training programs for new and veteran teachers. The program to help beginning
teachers is called "I Can Do It!" The other is a survive- and-thrive program
developed for mid- to late-career teachers. Both are offered by CTA, endorsed by
local districts, and delivered by Association staff or a cadre of member
instructors.
The work of NEA members and others in states and local
districts cannot succeed, however, without the critical assistance of the
federal government. The federal government must provide the necessary tools and
resources to support states and localities in helping students achieve academic
success. We call upon Congress to work with us to help strengthen education
programs to meet the needs of students, teachers, and schools in the next
century.
NEA's recommendations for Title I reauthorization are shaped by our
principles for strong public schools and our testimony today reflects our vision
for a quality public schools agenda.Title I has long been the cornerstone of the
Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). Ninety-three
percent of school districts and more than 75,000 schools receive Title I funds.
NEA members believe that Title I plays an integral role in making sure that all
students reach the highest levels of academic success. As one Title I aide and
NEA member told us, "There are so many children who wouldn't have graduated from
high school without Title I help." Similarly, a group of NEA-member elementary
school teachers praised their Title I funded "Kindergarten Plus" program, which
is showing real gains in reading and math abilities.
NEA believes that the
1994 reforms set Title I on the correct path toward standards-based curriculum
and assessments. Schools across the country are demonstrating success with Title
I programs. For example, Delaware's Milford Middle School has achieved
significant gains in test scores through implementation of a diverse and
imaginative reading curriculum, introducing challenged readers to the classics
of world literature. Similarly, students at Missouri's Ava Elementary School are
now meeting higher academic standards as a result of a comprehensive Title I
program that includes a preschool class, Jump Start kindergarten, transitional
first grade class, and a parent volunteer program.
NEA strongly urges that
this year's ESEA reauthorization sustain this direction while
strengthening Title I to build on its successes. NEA opposes any efforts to
alter significantly the structure or direction of Title I.
Areas Requiring
Particular Focus:
In particular, NEA urges increased focus in four areas:
improving training and professional development for paraeducators, reinforcing
the link between Title I standards and assessments, increasing the focus on
early childhood education, and strengthening Title I to meet the needs of rural
schools.
- Promote quality and professional development for teachers and
paraeducators.
Teacher quality is the single greatest in-school factor
in determining student success. NEA believes that meeting the goal of a quality
teacher in every classroom requires intensive teacher recruitment, mentoring for
new teachers, assistance in helping teachers achieve certification or licensure,
and on going professional development in both subject area and teaching skills.
NEA strongly supports providing incentives, including through Title I, for
school districts and school leaders to hire fully licensed teachers, assign them
to classes in their area of licensure, and provide comprehensive school-based
professional development.
NEA believes that appropriately trained and
supervised paraeducators, who assist teachers in the classroom or in other
capacities, play a critical role in the success of Title I programs.
Paraeducators provide valuable services to schools and students. They help
promote parental and community involvement and often play a critical role in
translating for non-English speaking students and parents. Under the proper
supervision, paraeducators can help in the classroom as well by allowing for
smaller group learning and enabling the teacher to spend more individualized
time with students.
NEA member paraeducators routinely express concern as
they are assigned duties, including unsupervised classroom duty, for which they
are not trained or compensated. NEA opposes assigning unqualified, unsupervised
paraeducators to classroom duties.
NEA supports comprehensive training and
professional development for paraeducators, as well as other paraprofessionals
such as bus drivers and secretarial support staffs. Many paraeducators do not
wish to become teachers, but rather seek on going, high quality training to
improve their skills. Often, however, training for paraeducators is not
available or is discouraged by administrators. NEA urges Congress to recognize
the critical importance of trained, supervised paraeducators. We urge federal
support for paraeducator training and professional development.
- Sustain
the standards-based direction of Title I, and link assessments to standards-
based curriculum. NEA strongly supports the standards-based direction of Title
I. As this Committee has heard in recent hearings, available data -- such as
that in the report of the Independent Review Panel on the Evaluation of Federal
Legislation and the Department of Education's National Assessment of Title I --
demonstrate that the 1994 reforms have begun to result in increased student
achievement. NEA believes that full implementation of the 1994 reforms will lead
to further success in meeting our academic goals for all students.
Although
the 1994 law clearly states that standards and assessments must be in alignment,
this is not yet happening in practice. NEA members have expressed increasing
frustration at the continued disconnection between curriculum and assessments.
In many instances, what students are taught is significantly different from the
content on which they are assessed. As a result, teachers, students, and parents
face test scores that do not accurately reflect students' skills or knowledge.
As important, the test scores fail to provide schools, teachers, and parents
with information they can use to change or improve programs and instruction.
NEA urges a continued federal partnership in supporting state and local
improvement of standards and assessments. This partnership should place an
increased focus on aligning -and helping schools implement -- standards and
assessments. NEA believes that evaluation is a critical component of any
accountability system, including Title I. States and school districts must
evaluate the effectiveness of programs and, in turn, provide technical
assistance to schools to improve teaching and learning. An evaluation system is
meaningless, however, if it does not measure student success in learning those
skills and knowledge addressed in the curriculum.
An evaluation system must
also provide for locally-reported data, including disaggregated data that
enables schools to gauge student achievement by ethnicity and gender and for
students with special needs.
NEA urges Congress to stay the course with
standards-based reform. Continued academic improvement will follow as states and
districts fully implement the 1994 reforms. We must, however, provide states and
school districts the tools, resources, and tailored technical assistance to
align standards-based curriculum and assessments.
- Focus on preparing young
children to enter school ready to learn. Children's learning begins well before
they enter school. With the emphasis on high standards and ending social
promotion, it is critical that the transition to school be founded on strong
school readiness No single step will do more to ensure children's future
academic success.
Early intervention and support is critical for many
children who receive Title I services. Congress should provide additional
funding to enable local districts to use Title I funds to offer preschool
services to all children, beginning at age three. Such services could be
provided to children directly by a school district or via contracts with Head
Start or Even Start programs.
The Title I preschool program serves
approximately 260,000 preschool- age children. Yet, little data exist on the
quality of preschool services funded under the program or program performance.
Determining whether or not preschool programs are meeting their objectives, and
holding preschool programs accountable for preparing children to learn, is
complicated by the fact that there are no consistent standards on school
readiness at the national or state levels. Congress should clarify the
objectives of Title I preschool programs by helping to define school readiness.
In addition, the Title I preschool program currently has no performance
accountability. Just as accountability is an integral part of elementary and
secondary school Title I programs, preschool programs must be accountable for
meeting defined school readiness objectives.
Strengthen Title I to meet the
needs of rural schools. NEA urges Congress to pay particular attention to the
special needs of rural schools, especially in the recruitment and retention of
Title I teachers and paraeducators. Rural education is best viewed as a system
of promise with unique needs. The ingenuity, creativity, and forward- thinking
strategies that many rural communities have modeled by necessity to address
their challenges have promise and implications for schools in all communities.
Among the creative solutions launched by rural education are cooperative
learning, site-based management, multi-grade classrooms, resource consolidation,
regional consortia, distance education, community involvement, and
cross-disciplinary course work and teaching.NEA research has documented the need
to place increased emphasis on meeting the needs of rural schools. Forty-one
percent of public school educators teach in rural community schools. Forty-nine
percent of the nation's public schools, teaching 40 percent of the nation's
students, are located in rural areas and small towns. Yet, despite these
numbers, only 22 percent of total federal, state, and local spending on public
education goes to schools in rural and small town areas.
NEA urges Congress
to place increased emphasis on the needs of rural schools. For example, NEA
supports:
- Increased resources to foster partnerships between rural
schools, school districts, teacher associations, businesses, and teacher
education institutions to help with teacher recruitment and retention;
Recruitment incentives and early training opportunities for rural teacher
candidates;
- Inclusion in teacher preparation curricula of special courses
and training for teachers in rural schools;
- Resources to modernize rural
school infrastructure;
- Expansion of access to information technology in
rural areas for programmatic instruction and staff professional development
- Collection and analysis of student achievement data for students in rural
areas and small towns; and
- Increased resources to support the provision of
kindergarten programs, preschool programs, and programs targeted to children
with special needs in rural areas.
NEA also urges Congress to recognize the
unique needs of rural areas in designing competitive grant processes for receipt
of federal education funds. Often, rural educators may not have the expertise of
their urban and suburban counterparts in formulating grant applications.
Additional Recommendations:
In addition to the four critical areas
outlined above, NEA supports further improvements to Title I to ensure a quality
education for all students.
- Increase Title I funding and retain
targeting of funds to areas with the greatest need. NEA strongly supports
increased Title I funding and continued targeting of Title I funds to low-income
schools and communities. Title I funds offer an effective, efficient approach to
addressing the needs of disadvantaged children. Nearly 99 percent of Title I
funds flow directly to local school districts. Yet, current funding allows Title
I to serve only approximately one-third of eligible students. The Congressional
Research Service estimates that fully funding Title I would cost $24 billion.
Although Title I appropriations have increased in recent years, they represent a
shrinking proportion of federal funding for elementary and secondary education.
NEA supports a significant increase in Title I funding for Fiscal Year 2000 so
that no eligible child is left behind. In addition, NEA supports retention of
the 50 percent poverty threshold for schoolwide programs.
NEA also supports
continued funding for the Comprehensive School Reform Demonstration Program
(CSRD). CSRD has proven successful in enabling schools to increase academic
achievement. An increasing number of districts and schools are undertaking and
getting results from proven comprehensive school reform efforts, including high
standards and rigorous curriculum for all students; a school environment that
promotes collaboration and mutual respect; on going, high quality professional
development; efficient school management; and meaningful parental involvement.
- Support and strengthen parental involvement in schools. NEA supports
strengthening parental involvement in the education process, including providing
parents with comprehensive information about teacher credentials, student
assessments, and the specifics of Title I programs in which their children
participate.
- Continue to support public school Title I services for
private school students. NEA supports the current system whereby public schools
provide Title I services to private school children. We oppose efforts to
provide funds directly to private schools or to allow schools to contract out
such services to private entities. Such efforts would undermine the careful
balance between public and private schools in the Title I area and could lead to
a resurgence in litigation around the church-state issue. - Strengthen
provisions to ensure that Title I schools are treated the same as all other
schools in a district. Students in high poverty schools funded with Title I
dollars must be served by the same high quality teachers and must have access to
facilities with the same resources, technology, and class size as students in
wealthier schools.
NEA Concerns:
NEA opposes efforts to undermine the
success of Title I through block grants or elimination of the targeting of Title
I funds to low-income schools and communities. Specifically, NEA urges Congress
to:
- Oppose efforts to make Title I a "portable" benefit. NEA strongly
opposes proposals to have Title I funds "follow the child" rather than target
schools and communities with the greatest need. Such "portability" proposals
represent an attempt to diffuse and dilute the effectiveness of Title I by
shifting the focus away from the needs of low-income students in poor schools
and communities. If current funding were divided by all eligible children,
schools with high concentrations of poverty would see a significant decrease in
Title I funding.
The portability proposal dismisses the benefits of
schoolwide programs and research-based school reform models to help all children
in low- income schools reach high standards. The portability proposal would also
impede program administration and accountability. Programs would face constant
funding changes and increased paperwork as students transferred in and out of
schools.- Oppose efforts to block grant Title I. NEA strongly opposes the "Super
Ed-Flex" or "Straight A's" proposal, which would repeal a number of education
programs, including Title I, and combine the dollars into a block grant. Block
granting Title I would serve merely to undermine the standards, accountability,
and targeting of funds that have proven successful.
Title I already offers
states and school districts substantial flexibility in program implementation.
Title I schools now have increased flexibility to use Title I funds to pursue
whole-school activities, such as adapting curriculum and training all teachers
to better meet the needs of schools with a large percentage of disadvantaged
students. The recent NEA supported nationwide expansion of the Education
Flexibility Partnership Demonstration Project (Ed- Flex) will allow Title I
schools across the country to take advantage of this flexibility.
- Oppose
efforts to reauthorize Title I separately from other ESEA
programs. NEA believes that Title I reauthorization must take place within the
context of a comprehensive ESEA reauthorization. The
effectiveness of ESEA programs lies in the interconnection
between the various titles. ESEA programs are organized around
national priorities of equity and quality, alignment and integration of federal
program funds with each other and with state and local efforts, and
simplification of federal program administration. It will be difficult, if not
impossible, to retain and expand these mechanisms for program integration and
accountability in a fragmented reauthorization process.
In summary, NEA
strongly supports the current structure and direction of Title I. We urge
Congress to retain the standards-based direction of Title I, avoid significant
changes to the Title I program, and provide sufficient tools and resources to
ensure continued growth in academic
Success.
We thank you for the
opportunity to address the Committee and look forward to working with you to
support and strengthen Title I.
END
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June 12, 1999 
